Shaping the Body

This unique, erudite and entertaining book offers fascinating insights into the tortuous transformations employed by both men and women to sculpt their figures and accommodate the ever-shifting dictates of fashion. With high design, wit and style, "Shaping the Body" tracks the evolution of these sartorial devices – from panniers, crinolines, stomachers, bustles, body shapers, and push-up bras to whalebone, hoopskirts, lacing, chains, zippers, clasps and elasticized fabrics – concealed beneath outer layers in order to achieve the most coveted shapes of the day. Women's corsets have, at various times, constricted waists; exaggerated buttocks and hips to counterbalance jutting bust lines; or compressed breasts and flattened bellies into an aerodynamic silhouette. Yet men's fashion is no stranger to these practices. Men flaunted their virility by artificially broadening their shoulders, applying padding to their chests and calves, and slipping codpieces over their groins. With more than 200 beautiful illustrations – ranging from historic advertisements to superb new photography – the contributors reveal the industry and art of these contrivances intended to entice and beguile, as well as assert status and power, through deceptive invention. Contemporary designers including Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier, Rei Kawakubo, Christian Lacroix, and Vivienne Westwood are featured in this indiscreet tour behind the seams of fashion history.